M&P9 w/Dawson Adjustable Sights

This is a discussion on M&P9 w/Dawson Adjustable Sights within the MP Pistol Accessories forums, part of the Smith & Wesson MP Forum category; I originally posted this in the M&P Full Size Forum and it didn't get a lot of responses so I'll duplicate it here. I apologize ...

I originally posted this in the M&P Full Size Forum and it didn't get a lot of responses so I'll duplicate it here. I apologize if you've already seen it.

I prefer fully adjustable sights on any handgun and have installed them or purchased pistol with factory adjustable sights whenever possible. So, when Dawson Precision announced they had fully adjustable sights for the M&P, I ordered a set. I got the "optic" (i.e. "fiber optic" or light pipe) versions for both front and rear.

The Dawson adjustable rear requires a replacement higher front sight that is offered in two widths, 0.100" and 0.125". I got the wider one and I'm glad as it still provides plenty of light bands on both sides of the rear notch.

I installed both sights myself. First, I checked that the gun was unloaded (mandatory warning) and removed and striped the slide. I then clamped the slide in my bench vise using soft aluminum jaws and a cloth wrap.

Removing the factory front sight required a brass punch, an 8 oz hammer and quite bit of force. These things don't come out easily. I drove it out from left to right as is usually recommended.

The replacement front sight was somewhat over size and, following Dawson's instructions, I filed the front of the sight's dovetail (NEVER file the slide!!!) until it would slip into the slide about 1/3 of the sight's base width. Then I cleaned and degreased the slide and sight base, put a drop of Blue Locktite on the slide and drove the sight in to center. Again this took some real hammering to get it in. I used a caliper to be sure it was centered.

The rear sight was not as difficult to remove. I loosen the set screw with a 1/16" hex wrench and drove it out, again left to right using the plastic faced punch Dawson includes with their sight.

There is one trick to replacing the M&P rear sight and that is the spring loaded striker block is under the sight. As you remove it, the top plate and spring are exposed and you have to be ready to catch them as the sight uncovers them. Even knowing this I was surprised as the plate and spring popped loose and I was lucky to find them on my shop floor.

Again, the rear sight was oversized and I had to file the sight dovetail to get it to fit the slide. A micrometer was useful to let me file the Dawson's width to match the the factory rear sight's width. It was somewhat tricky to install the new rear sight while holding the striker block spring and top cap in place but a few tries and it worked. I drove the new rear sight home with the punch and hammer and Loctite'd the new set screw in place.

A few days ago I shot and sighted in my M&P with the new sights and I'm very pleased with the results. I was able to zero the gun easily and have the adjustability to use almost any load and bullet weight.

Don't know what kind of "response" you are looking for. I too have installed a set of the DP adjustable sights on one of my Pro9's. What I noticed was that both front and rear DP sights were quite a bit oversized and took an unusual amount of filing (65 degree dovetail file) to get them to fit. But patience wins out. Anyone doing the DP sights just needs to be prepared to do more filing/fitting than normal.

Well, not an argument or anything like that, but I was hoping others, like you, had experience with the Dawson or Novak adjustable sights and might chime in with how they worked.

As I reported and you confirmed, the Dawsons are noticeably oversized for most slides. Dawson's installation sheet claims they are made large enough to fit any slide, no matter how large the dovetail and they sure are right. I also spent quite a bit of time with a set of jewelers files and a micrometer but they did eventually fit properly. These things are not drop-ins.